Lingnan University Library Transformation

The existing library spans over 150m long with little connections between the North and South wing. In the center was the circulation desk and office which created a disjunct and destroyed the overall coherence of the library space. The library was also occupied with endless rows of bookshelves that served more as an archive and provided little space for student use. Our idea comes in two folds. First, we want to build on the idea of the numerous bookshelves in the library. We want to make books as architecture. To draw references to Bunshaft’s Beinecke Library and Asplund’s Stockholm Public Library, we designed a three-story book wall facing the library entrance that connects to a reading room in the center of the library and anchors the central atrium. This book wall absorbs the many bookshelves in the existing plan to free up space for the students and defines a clear identity for the library upon arrival. To transform this into a contemporary study space, we have inserted a series of new platforms to add a 1000sqm area to provide a spectrum of programmatic functional spaces. This thin floor within the tight existing space has become a new datum line in the library. This new floor serves as the platform for generating knowledge that weaves through the space like a ribbon to tie together the originally disjunct library space. We devised a series of tectonic innovations through close collaborations with our engineers to address the peculiar headroom conditions of the existing library. This allowed us to create a new floor that is so thin and light as if it floats within the existing space. On the platform, different functions including a maker space, a graduate student lounge, idea exchange discussion zone float above, while functional spaces that require more enclosure such as a café, a periodical archive room, and discussion study rooms sit below. The configurations of the platforms in the plan also create sectional relationships and to define the double-height spaces to create an interactive space between the high space and the platform spaces. To create the thinnest platform possible - due to the limitation of the allowable height - we worked closely with our structural engineer to come up with a creative way to transfer loads to create a platform depth that is minimal to allow the spaces to stay within the minimum building height requirement. We also want to create a light floating effect of this platform that does not have a visible physical connection to the existing structure. The creative load paths and tectonic connections that we have devised create this new light structure allowing the platform to cantilever a large span without obvious structural support. Located above the main entrance of the university campus, the new library has redefined the university campus and becomes the new student community space. Beyond operating as a library, this project has transformed the campus for the student body where parties and exhibitions are held regularly at the library atrium.